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New spring training plans in Palm Beach County face money hurdles

New spring training plans in Palm Beach County face money hurdles

Palm Beach County on Friday released a list of 10 potential sites from Vero Beach to Boca Raton where a major league spring training facility could be built and proposed options to cover a shortfall in the county’s projected cost of building the two-team stadium.

Officials released a 56-page presentation they will present to county commissioners Tuesday. It includes the sites and proposed legislation to help pay for the facility.

The presentation — the same one made Thursday to the owners of the Houston Astros and Washington Nationals — is intended to update the commission on efforts to attract and retain major league spring training facilities along Florida’s southeast coast, County Administrator Bob Weisman said Friday.

“These are both parallel tracks,” Weisman said. “The financing and the site are equally significant issues that need to be resolved. You can’t proceed with one without the other.”

While there’s hope the financial shortfall can be covered, the Astros and Nationals are not yet convinced that they will one day wind up in the county.

“It’s going to be a struggle,’’ said a person with knowledge of the discussions.

If the county can’t find a solution, the teams could try to pair up in Kissimmee, where the Astros currently train, or in Arizona. But if a regional solution can be worked out, the teams have at least eight sites in the county to consider, including five close to West Palm Beach.

John Prince Park west of Lake Worth was not on the list shown to Astros owner Jim Crane and Nationals principal owner Mark Lerner. Although county staff have ruled out that site because of state deed restrictions on the park land, Lake Worth officials think those issues can be overcome.

Other land owners also have proposed sites that didn’t make the county’s list.

Of the listed sites, the teams consider West Palm Beach-owned land south of 45th Street between Military Trail and Haverhill Road as one of the better options. The teams believe issues with a cleaned-up landfill on that site can be resolved.

Another site on the list is east of Sansbury Way, next to the South Florida Fairgrounds. The county suggests stadium construction could work in tandem with improvements to the fairgrounds, including an expanded amphitheater.

Other sites on the list: vacant land hugging the former Vavrus Ranch west of the Palm Beach Gardens golf course on Northlake Boulevard; land at Belvedere and Jog roads in West Palm Beach; and Highland Dunes, a proposed 2,000-home project on Southern Boulevard near 20-Mile Bend.

Weisman said the county focused on sites that were roughly 100 acres, adding that many of the property owners have not been contacted or expressed interest.

Not on the list: The massive Minto West development proposed near The Acreage where developers say they want a spring training facility. Also left off: the even-bigger Avenir project on the former Vavrus Ranch.

Wesiman said county officials thought the Minto site was too far west and they feared controversial development issues on both.

“In general, the teams have wanted to be closer into the coast,” Weisman said.

Weisman said the county will have about $2.6 million a year, starting in 2016, to help pay for a facility. That money would come from a tax on hotel stays.

But county officials say current rules make it diffcult to secure additional state money that could be needed to help the rest of the shortfall.

“The state is a funding source, too,” Weisman said. “How you could use it remains to be seen.”

County officials this week also met with legislators in Tallahassee about tweaking language approved last April in a “state retention fund” to provide $50 million for two spring training facilities to be paid out over 37 1/2 years.

The first step, everyone agrees, is to see if the Legislature can reduce the time to 25 years or less.

Other options for covering the shortfall include changes by the Legislature to a spring training funding plan, raising the county’s tourism tax, a new local tax or more contributions from the baseball teams.

Another option is an independent taxing district that would include other counties in the region. But that is considered too complicated.

The teams believe the shortfall could be closer to $30 million. After the county explores all financial options, the team owners might be asked to chip in — possibly up to $20 million combined — to help close the gap, but such a move is considered unlikely.

The eight Palm Beach County sites have extra costs — beyond a stadium construction cost — for land and development ranging from $2.5 million to $32 million.

The Nationals liked John Prince Park west of Lake Worth. But even if the state deed restrictions can be worked out, there might only be enough land for one team.

The state-owned A.G. Holley site is on the list, too, even though the state approved the land’s $15 million sale Thursday to a company owned by developer Ken Endelson, who wants to build houses and stores on it. One thought was for a spring training site to straddle the north side of the site and the south side of a landfill in Lake Worth.

Tradition Field in Port St. Lucie is on the list. But there are uncertainties, such as whether the Mets will want to share a complex awash in the team’s colors and tradition.

That would require improvements to Tradition Field. But if a team did partner with the Mets, another team could go to Palm Beach County.

The county also pitched Dodgertown in Vero Beach, but that is not considered a serious contender.